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Part of the book series: Managing Forest Ecosystems ((MAFE,volume 30))

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Abstract

Single-goal problems are the simplest class of decision problems. In this chapter, utility function and value function concepts are presented for the single-goal case, as well as the differences between these two approaches. We describe how normalisation of forest information can also be interpreted as a value function. We describe the concept of uncertainty and risk and the classical criteria of decision-making under risk or uncertainty. We also describe risk attitude and its relation to the utility function. We then describe and present comprehensible examples on how a single-variable utility function or value function is estimated and interpreted.

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Kangas, A., Kurttila, M., Hujala, T., Eyvindson, K., Kangas, J. (2015). Single-Criterion Problems. In: Decision Support for Forest Management. Managing Forest Ecosystems, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23522-6_3

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